Ok, lots of people in this situation. I'll keep this post updated if/as information changes. Use other forum threads to discuss things and ask more questions.

What's happening?Turbine are closing 19 of 29 servers. There are 2 EU-EN servers surviving. The Elders are going to Laurelin.

What do I do?Probably a good idea to patch the game so it's up to date when you want to do something.

It is now safe to switch servers! The kinship has moved to Laurelin. The recommended method is to move first any kinship leaders if you have a private kin , second your house owner and finally remaining characters. Turbine rep Vyvyanne suggests selecting "Shared items" as well for each move, so any items "falling through" get transferred (eg alt-bound items in your house). Full post on advice is here: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread ... tion-Guide

So far people are transferring without apparent issue.

If you log in to Gilrain on your main and you're not in a kin, we did NOT kick you! The kin was automatically disbanded by Turbine once Cara moved to Laurelin, and re-created there. So you'll be temporarily kinless until you do move to Laurelin.

Once you transfer to Laurelin, all the toons that were in The Elders will now be in "The Elders of Gilrain" on Laurelin (temporarily "The Elders-1"). Remember, if you've been away a while, your alts will have been kicked during one of my spring cleans. Just ask for them to be readmitted, exactly as you did on Gilrain when you came back from a break. Before you try and do that, best to log in on your main and check what names you're looking for - eg, there's a good chance some of the officers will be "-1". However, I am still "Cara" (YAY!)

What about my stuff?Everything in vaults, shared storage, tokens, points, Mithril coins, festival junk....EVERYTHING... will be transferred when you transfer your account, except the contents of your Mailbox. And except your house. You'll get credit for it, but you have to go buy a new one. The contents of your old house will still exist, and be in Escrow for you to pick up.

How long have I got to do this?For the life of the game! After the end of the year, you will not be able to play on Gilrain. But you will always be able to transfer your account to Laurelin.

Server moves for Gilrain begin on Monday 28th September. If you're not playing regularly, you might want to wait until Tuesday to login and move your account. This is because the process may take some time, and it can be unpredictable how much.

More information is going on in Kinchat if you'd like to catch up! But, bottom line, if you move on or after Tuesday 28th, you should still be in the kin with your old rank and join date.

Note that if you log in and find yourself kinless, it means the kin has already moved and you can safely transfer your account.